Aquino angry at Arroyo? Big deal. As Erap would say , “weather weather lang yan”. It wasn’t long ago that Loi Estrada was Senator – together with Jinggoy Estrada.
The yellow pot calls the green kettle black
So Arroyo had P488 billion in her 9 year term? That’s nothing, Aquino’s 2013 pork barrel is already at P317B. Add to that his 2012 pork barrel of P161B, and his 2011 pork barrel of 68B. How much does that add up to? Lemme call up my Grade 5 math teacher and have him add P317B + P 161B + P68b , waddya know that’s PhP 546B in three years.
And Neri Colmenares was saying Gloria was greedy because Arroyo had P488B during her nine year term. It would be interesting to hear what she has to say about Aquino’s pork barrel of P546B in three years? Generous? 
As above so below
At the local level, it gets more gangnam este.. gangster.. este warlord style.
For instance, go to any local government unit – and you will notice that the Governor or Mayor would be the father, or daughter, or wife. The Vice Governor or Vice-Mayor would be the father, daughter, or son – depending on the term limits. The congressman would be a cousin, or still the father, daughter or son. Then the councilors would be cousins of the third degree of consanguinity. The positions will be passed between father, son, daughter, the unholy ghost and what not. The barangay captains and their kagawads will also claim sanguine affinity.
It’s so surreal to see so many Kim Jong Ils, Stalin mini-mes – pigging out on COA-exempt funds – legal plunder in broad daylight while sending petty thieves to the gallows. Ika nga, magnanakaw, galit sa kapwa magnanakaw.
Outraged at Ampatuan’s impunity? Really? The outrage was that Ampatuan pulled it off wholesale? But how about the retail massacres that go on for decades? An ice pick to the chest, motorcycle riding gunmen, SUV’s thrown into ravines, shallow graves that would make Pol Pot and Idi Amin envious.
The voters of Sisyphus
But the bigger question really is – why do voters keep on voting for these folks who obviously have done nothing but waste taxpayers money? Is it the inertia of impunity?
In Greek mythology Sisyphus, was a king punished by being compelled to roll an immense boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down, and to repeat this action forever.
The word “sisyphean” means “endless and unavailing, as labor or a task”.
The Pinoy voters are a wily lot – they are after all – the “kings” of the trapos. Showered with accolades like “Kayo ang boss ko”, “mula sa masa, para sa masa” – they go about cavorting like kings.
Like Sisyphus the pinoy voters pig out on the “free lunch” paid for by the COA-exempt allottments. The occasional dinner at pricey restaurants, the free lechon during the fiesta, the overnight stay at luxurious hotels, the free plane tickets, maybe even the purchase of panties and jewelry – all paid for on tap – by the representation and travel allowance – or some exoticly named fund – which will never be audited by the COA.
Of course, when tax time comes – the pinoy voters shell out an arm and a leg for the sin taxes, the property tax, the cedulas, the sales taxes, the government fees and charges. And so they roll back to the bottom of the mountain, breaking their backs so that the gods of Mt Makiling and Mt Apo will shower them with more “free goodies”.
The Poverty of the Pinoy Mind Manifests Itself
The poverty of the Pinoy mind is best expressed by the Filipino’s average national IQ of 86 – which is classified as dull normal intelligence or borderline mental retardation. The pinoy “masa” expect new results in voting for the same old dynasties – expecting prosperity from the same old thieves.
Will the next generation of Pinoy voters be able to break the chains of their poverty-ridden forefathers? By the looks of it – NO.
A recent paper published by Cornell University researchers showed that growing up poor isn’t just hard on kids – it might also be bad for their brains. The achievement gap between well-off children and poor children isn’t only affected by lack of education, lack of nutrition – but may also literally wears down their brains thus posing a biological barrier to learning.
On a wider social scale , the implication of the policies which underlie the uninclusive Philippine economy’s 7% unemployment, 22% underemployment, widening of hunger from 15 million to 16 million Filipinos – might affect cognitive development and brain changes.
Who is Protecting Who?
As the political dynasties at the national and local level sink deeper roots into the tax coffers, the national IQ of the Philippines might just move from the borderline mental retardation of 86 to truly retarded.
Which then sets the stage for the paternalism of the dynasties to become the “protector” of the masses. Big brother, big sister, big lolo, father of the city, father of the country, mother of the country, mother of the province – and what have you. As if governance was one big household.
The poverty-stricken brains wouldn’t know that they are the ones who are actually protecting the plunderers – and in the end are the source of their own misery.
The Pinoy voters are heirs of Sisyphus forever doomed to give praise and taxes to Kim Jong Il, and totally happy about it like Homer Simpson.
As Adam Smith quipt a long time ago, in a galaxy far away – “The real tragedy of the poor is the poverty of their aspirations”
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